This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Margaret Izard will be awarding a Stone of Doubt Book Swag Box to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
I started dancing at three years old. I’ve spent the majority of my life in a leotard, staring at myself in the mirror, picking apart everything I did as a dance teacher stood beside me, beating a cane on the floor, telling me all the ways I moved wrong. The goal was to apply what was said to make me a better dancer. I’ve done this my whole life, taken feedback, and applied it.
Feedback in all its forms, negative, positive, constructive, and coaching, is set to provide the creator with something that helps them improve. Not all the feedback I’ve had is easy to take, but at its core, it has something to contribute to my creative process. That is where I find the gift of feedback.
My advice to new writers…
Read. Some of my best ideas came from inspiration from reading history or another story. It fires the creative spark and generates my mind to develop “what if?” and then answer it. Answering “what if” is how I start the main ideas in a story.
Write. Even if it stinks, write. Get it on the page. You can always edit it after. You should edit and edit and edit. Writing is a practiced technique. Storytelling is a practiced art. They go hand in hand, but to learn, one must practice.
Don’t do this alone. While writing is solitary, crafting and creating great stories isn’t. Take a class, find a writing group, or join a critique group. Get feedback on what you write to make it better.
In the absence of doubt, only faith is found.
A human with Fae powers living like an oddball has its ups and downs until Evie MacDougall’s dream Fae boy pops back into her life after she thought another was “the one.”
One dark and devilish, the other her long-lost love. Evil forces trap her for a magic Fae stone, but which man can she trust? As a teen prophesied to be Fae king, Aodhán viewed the girl of his dreams through an Eye of Ra.
Once, he risked all to help Evie MacDougall find a magic Fae stone, only to end up imprisoned. Kept from his true love for years, he finds her at risk from an evil Fae hunting a magic stone.
Is a single vow strong enough to save true love, to save the human and Fae realms?
Read an Excerpt
Her head shot up, and he stood before her. “Hello, Evie.”
Her hand lifted as she moved it toward him, expecting it to pass through. When she touched his warm chest, she jerked back.
He captured it in his hand. “Aye, I’m real, Evie.”
He brought her hand to his lips and brushed the back, kissing her. Tingles shot from her hand to her heart. Only one person affected her that way. Aodhán.
His grin grew as he lowered her hand. “I’ve been away, and for that, I am sorry. But I’m finally freed. Free to revisit the human realm.”
Tears gathered in her eyes as he gazed into her eyes, her heart. Her Fae love, Aodhán, stood before her and held her hand.
“Evie, please let me make up my absence to ye. Let me show ye new hope and erase all doubt about yer feelings for me.”
She whimpered as a tear fell. “Aodhán?”
His hand came up and caught her tear. He rotated his palm and held it open, presenting a clear gemstone shaped like a teardrop.
Handing it to her, he whispered, “I can only stay a moment, but tomorrow I shall come to ye. I’m glad ye kept the sphere. I heard yer call every time. No more tears, Evie.”
He brushed a kiss on her lips. “Look for me tomorrow night in yer dreams. Don’t lose hope.”
Aodhán faded from her view.
Evie blinked. She turned around once, scanning the area. No one was about.
She turned again, calling out, “Hello?”
No one appeared on the street.
She pulled her camera up and pressed the button. Aodhán’s smiling face and ethereal glow came into view. Proof he’d visited and she’d not seen a ghost.
Her fingers brushed her tingling lips at the promise of tomorrow night.
About the Author:
Margaret Izard is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. Her latest awards are 2024 Reader’s Favorite Honorable Mention for Stone of Love and 2024 Spring BookFest Silver Award for the same title. She spent her early years through college to adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her desire for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets.
Thank you so much for hosting STONE OF DOUBT today.
Sounds like a really interesting story.
I enjoyed the excerpt, thank you for sharing.